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Virtual Instructor-Led Training Explained: Types, Benefits, and Implementation Tips

In this technology-dependent age of rapid innovation, learning is the key to maintaining an edge, personal or professional. This is where our Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) steps in — training solution that can blend the best of both in-person classroom teaching and online training sessions. With VILT, you never have to compromise on quality. Each session is designed from the ground up for real-world engagement — lots of opportunities to participate, get real-time feedback and dig into real discussion. Forget the boring, pre-recorded videos—this is a vibrant, interactive experience where learners take center stage. This page will discuss VILT in detail, including its types, best practices, implementation tips, and future.

What Is Virtual Instructor-Led Training?

VILT has been around for a while, but it gained momentum when organizations sought more flexible and cost-effective solutions to train employees dispersed across locations. As travel budgets tightened and teams spread out, businesses recognized that VILT provided a convenient solution that would cause little interruption to day-to-day operations.

So, what exactly is VILT? Consider it a form of virtual training that is live and online with instructors and learners in separate locations. It seeks to give the experience of a classroom, creating online courses that are as interesting as they are personalized for each visitor. VILT has emerged as one of the most sought-after forms of online learning. Most organizations offer online training as an integral part of their broader training strategy to promote ongoing development, encourage the building of new skills, and onboard new employees seamlessly.

What Are the Different Types of Virtual Instructor-led Training?

Virtual instructor-led training takes multiple forms. Here are a few of the more common ones:

  • One-to-One: This private, online session with an instructor is ideal if learners want additional personalization.
  • Small Group: Three to twenty learners usually meet an instructor online in a virtual classroom or via video call. This arrangement is good if you like exchanging ideas with classmates.
  • Webinar: These are big virtual events that educate a large group. They’re also a great marketing tool for attracting future clients.
  • Lecture: This feels like a traditional classroom talk—just online. The instructor delivers the material, and questions usually come at the end.
  • Workshop: This is a more hands-on approach in which the instructor and students work simultaneously on tasks (or projects) in real time but virtually.
  • MOOC (Massive Open Online Course): This is a large online training course. MOOCs may have hundreds or thousands of learners taking the same online course together.

Benefits of Virtual Instructor-Led Training

Implementing virtual instructor-led training in an organization ensures incredible results. So, let’s look at its 5 benefits:

Cost-Effectiveness

Employee training is a linchpin of professional growth, though traditional approaches prove unexpectedly costly. Many companies reimburse employees individually for courses, seminars or training programs—an expense that can add up quickly.

VILT allows organizations to invest in company-wide training programs. Such initiatives grant software developers access to top-tier courses for continuing education credits and professional development while minimizing overall training costs. This is a positive development for the organization and its employees alike.

Upskilling Made Easy

High employee turnover is bad news for any organization regarding morale, productivity, and budget. Hiring an employee costs an average of $4,000, and it takes them approximately 42 days to fill an open role.

Moreover, a regular, strong VILT program can close skill gaps, engage employees, and improve morale. Organizations that focus on empowering their teams find that providing resources to help them develop equipment makes employees feel valued, and motivation levels increase performance and retention.

Embracing Diversity

While a diverse workplace can drive creativity, innovation, and collaboration, it does not happen overnight — it takes effort. VILT enhances diversity as professionals connect with instructors and peers from various cultural and professional backgrounds. This format provides learners with fresh perspectives from industry experts with different experiences—something that’s often missing in traditional, in-person training.

Ultimate Flexibility

When it comes to employee training, convenience is king. Mandating staff attendance at in-person sessions can upset schedules and reduce uptake. VILT defies the odds and provides unparalleled convenience.

Employees can access training sessions from their computers or mobile devices anywhere and anytime, whether at work, home or on the go. This flexibility makes learning more attractive and part of reach to today’s busy employee base.

Adaptable for All Learners

VILT’s online nature is a boon for learners, regardless of age or skill set. They can pause, rewind, and review classroom segments to ensure they understand the material. This flexibility ensures that sectors are left out, making VILT an inclusive and powerful solution for professional development.

Incorporating VILT into organizational learning strategies will enable organizations to provide a cost-effective, engaging and inclusive training environment that drives growth and innovation. It’s not only skills training—you are building a culture of learning that helps everyone involved.

Best Practices for Virtual Instructor-Led Training

Corporate training programs work best for organizations that have significantly emphasized learning and development (L&D) initiatives that focus on workplace learning. Here are the best practices that successful organizations follow when enabling VILT initiatives:

Embed Training as Part of the Wider Corporate Program

Virtual instructor-led training is a powerful learning methodology. However, it is most effective in a complete, organization-wide training plan. Thus, organizations must invest resources in developing strong training programs, such as VILT courses, to help cater to each employee’s needs.

Choose Programs Provided by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

SMEs are the best fit for training as they have the most in-depth knowledge. Learning leaders need to make sure that these experts teach training courses. Each course the SMEs carry undergoes a comprehensive vetting process by a team of experts, which industry leaders then present.

Monitor and Measure Training Effectiveness

Simply creating a training program is just the start; just as important is verifying its efficacy. Once a training strategy is implemented, organizations need to sustain a learning culture. This also means measuring how each employee works individually and how well the entire initiative works. Virtual training will enable organizations to track employee performance and assign courses to meet changing learning preferences.

Following these practices will enable organizations to leverage their VILT initiatives better and foster a culture of continuous learning.

Virtual Instructor-Led Training Use Cases

Leadership Development

Our client is a global non-profit organization working with youth and sustainable livelihood. Their current leadership development program comprises an in-person, instructor-led workshop. They need to convert their existing leadership development program to a more virtual format to replicate the program transformations globally. We created a structured, engaging online training to build leadership knowledge and skills and how those skills can be used in different environments. Participants in the first cohort, from 14 countries, reported remarkable results in meeting the agreed-upon objectives. 93% of attendees reported that the content of the course helped them on their leadership journey, and 87% of attendees would recommend the course to others. Read the case study here.

Employee Training

Our client, a world-leading company in the nuclear power sector, is suffering a loss of scientists and engineers due to an aging workforce and weak political support. This was recognized by industry leaders who collaborated on the Advanced Engineering Training (AET) initiative to address this. To assist in closing the skills gap and providing a sustainable future to its sector, they teamed with Infopro Learning to provide robust digital training programs. The digital learning experiences outperformed expectations, with hundreds of employees earning certifications. The total program cost was less than $10k for each nuclear power plant. The program has received positive feedback from engineers, staff, and managers. Thousands have participated in the program, and hundreds are now certified engineers. Read the case study here.

How Organizations Can Implement VILT

A step-by-step guide to creating & running to-the-point virtual instructor-led training programs is:

Choose the Best LMS

Not every LMS is designed to deliver virtual instructor-led training properly. These are the areas to focus on when selecting an LMS for VILT:

  • Content Management: Native authoring tools and SCORM-compliant material upload.
  • Interactive Tools: Enables polls, discussions, assignments, and assessments to increase engagement.
  • Video Conference: Native or working with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Teams, etc.
  • Scheduling & Reminders: This allows for the scheduling of courses, assignment of instructors/students, and automated reminders.
  • Reporting: Track progress, attendance, and completion through dashboards and reports.

These basics should make up an ideal LMS, with added features to ensure your VILT is delivered and optimized beautifully.

Master Your Platform Before the Session

To ensure smooth sessions and a low-trainee experience, you must familiarize yourself with your LMS beforehand. Simulate creating lessons with multimedia and interactive features, structure your courses and stand-up video conferencing tools, invite participants, schedule sessions, and assign roles. Conduct a test session, take attendance and print out reports or certificates. Check with your LMS provider if they offer onboarding help to make the learning curve smoother.

Know and Understand Your Audience

It is the key to effective course design. VILT has the advantage of face-to-face interaction, but this benefit diminishes if you put too many students in a session. Key considerations include:

  • Class Size: Decide on the ideal size to keep everyone engaged and plan the number of sessions needed to accommodate this.
  • Assessments & Activities: Adjust these according to the class size and audience preferences to remain effective.
  • Location: If your training audience spans multiple time zones, you should remember the importance of location in terms of timing when creating the content.

These approaches can enhance the learning experience for your diverse audiences.

Create Clear Goals

Define clear, specific, measurable, achievable, and time-bound objectives before developing training materials for a VILT initiative. These objectives can be learning goals, business goals, or personal milestones to keep you focused and progressing during the program.

Create Student Lesson Guides

Supplement your guides with summaries highlighting important lesson takeaways, step-by-step instructions, images, and supporting documents. Record VILT sessions and upload them to the LMS for on-demand access.

Adapt Content to the Online Environment

Convert training content to be VILT-suitable and enable learning interactivity. Segment long passages, swap static assets for quizzes, or apply tools to update older materials for engagement.

Use Diverse Media Formats

To keep learners engaged, you can include formats such as videos, audio, role-plays, quizzes, presentations, writing assignments, etc. Adjust the mix to the purpose and context of the course.

Collect Feedback

Create surveys to get trainer responses using different question types (star ratings, multiple-choice). Review feedback within the LMS or export it for analysis.

Track and Measure Success

Monitor key metrics, including:

  • Trainee Outcomes: Compare before and after training performance through LMS reports.
  • Trainee Feedback: Assess the learner’s satisfaction with the program.
  • Business Outcomes: Measure impacts on KPIs such as retention and customer satisfaction. Provide regular assessments and determine any areas needing development.

Future Trends in Virtual Instructor-Led Training

Whether you are a virtual instructor, learning manager, or workshop participant, you have noticed that virtual instructor-led training is evolving. New technologies are changing how training is designed and delivered, with AI-driven personalization, immersive platforms such as virtual and augmented reality and advanced data analytics emerging, among others. With gamification, mobile-friendly platforms, and adaptive content, the way of learning is getting more interactive, engaging, and accessible for various audiences. With hybrid and remote work models presenting the new normal, VILT will be better than ever by emphasizing flexibility, collaboration, real-time engagement and more.

Are you looking to elevate your training programs? Learn how to operate and use these trends today to sustain you and your learners. Connect with our L&D experts today!

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